Steel Roses
by StrifeRose
Summary: What will be a collection of stories about my favourite pairing; Cloud and Tifa.
1. Before You Go

Pretending she couldn't hear him gathering the few things he would need before leaving again, the brunette busied herself wiping down the surface of the bar. She didn't even notice the shine on the already pristine counter as his steps echoed dully on the floor above her and trudging down the stairs.

As the door swung open and he stepped casually through, his eyes quickly found Tifa and he almost stopped. Opening his mouth to say something that simply refused to be said, he gave up and decided instead to nod briefly in her direction before heading outside to his bike. Eyebrows furrowed slightly in a mixture of exasperation and slight sadness, Tifa cautiously stepped out from behind the safety of her bar and followed at a brisk pace.

Finding him stowing his bag into yet another compartment of his bike, she held out her arm but recoiled slightly as the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach grew to almost painful levels. Her fingers closed and she looked away. Should she? Could she?

"Wait."

He turned to face her. Now the first word was said she found the rest came much easier. Faster.  
>She took a tentative step closer and noticed her boots felt much heavier than usual.<p>

"Before you go..."

As if waiting for her cue, he closed the gap between them in a few long strides and took her hand, their eyes locked together. She could feel her heart pounding and the blood rushing through her head as her lips suddenly found his, testing slowly before settling on a firmer kiss.

They parted and a blush involuntarily crept over her soft features, her world spinning. She opened her eyes, wondering at exactly what moment she had closed them, and smiled.

"Have a good trip."


	2. A Very CloTi Christmas

There was a _pop_ as Cid opened the third and final bottle of wine of the evening. A thin reel of smoke drifted from the freshly unsealed bottle and the light red effervescent liquid glugged into a glass held out expectantly, almost spilling over the rim of the glass.

"Ciiiid you're doing it wrong!" whined the receiver of the wine; a tall, young girl who's idea of dressing up for the occasion was pinning a silver broach to her black tank top and wearing a paper party hat tilted at a jaunty angle atop her crop of black hair.

Tifa leant back and folded her arms, looking at the girl fondly. She smiled. At the moment Yuffie's long limbs made her look awkward and almost gangly. But one day she would shed her disgust for feminine clothes and accept the idea that there might possibly be a time and a place for a dress or a pair of stilettos, and then those gawky limbs would be made graceful and swanlike. She wondered how far away that day was as Yuffie snatched the bottle away from Cid and presented it Tifa's way with a giggle. She noticed that the girl made an effort to caress the back of the pilot's hand as the bottle came away.

Christmas day had been a busy, but certainly fun day for everyone involved. It started with Marlene and Denzel bounding into the adult's bedroom and yelling themselves almost hoarse about how excited they were, blissfully unaware that they had interrupted a few good-morning-Christmas kisses. Paper was then strewn all over the floor as presents all round were unwrapped; Marlene receiving a new dress and a chocobo plush, and a pocket knife with several attachments and a new set of paints for Denzel. The children had then presented Cloud and Tifa with a painting of all four of them neatly framed and a bunch of flowers. Tifa had given Cloud a motorcycle cleaning kit and a new pair of leather gloves, and Cloud presented the brunette with a pair of earrings; clusters of tiny pearls. Tifa had worn them all day.

They caught the light as she leaned back, stretching her neck. Her hair fell across it, over her shoulders and Cloud watched it fall, his attention caught by the brief exposure of one of his favourite parts of her body. He quickly looked away as she sat up again.

"Ok, ok I got one…" Yuffie was clutching her glass with both hands and struggled to get her joke out between the giggles. "What… what do you call… aha… a flying, a flying cow?"

She leaned forward expectantly with a grin on her face. "Anyone? No…? A… wait, ha-ha… a _moogull._!"

She took a hand off her glass and slapped it palm down on the table, leaning back with bouts of laughter. Cid snorted into his drink and Cloud simply shook his head; albeit with a slight smile.

"Not one of your best, honey." Tifa smiled and stood up, stretching. Cloud noticed how elegant and soft her arms were.

"Maybe we should pack this in for tonight guys; it's getting kind of late." Tifa looked over at her youngest guest. "And I think some of us might have had enough liquid enjoyment for one night."

Yuffie looked up and pulled a 'what – me?' face, as Cid clapped her on the back.

"C'mon girl, you can stay at my place for tonight. There's plenty room for you to sleep OK."

Yuffie clumsily got to her feet and giggled into her hands. "Ohhh I don't need _that _much room… I'm sure there's somewhere I could curl up nice and tight." She gripped the pilot's arm with these last words and Cid looked over his shoulder as he led her out of the door, raising his eyebrows at the couple in the kitchen.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Goodnight you two! Be safe."

The door closed, shutting the cold wind out of the pair's night. Tifa bent over the table to clear the glasses and the bottles, and Cloud, not wanting to appear a standing nuisance, grabbed a couple of glasses. Tifa sighed.

"I can't be bothered to clear this up tonight. We've had a long day" she gave Cloud a gentle smile. She took the glasses out of his hands and put them in the sink with the rest, running a little water in each one to soak. She led him into the living room and kicked aside a little scrap of wrapping paper in front of the sofa before flopping down onto it. She put one arm behind her head and used the other to pick up Cloud's new gloves with a thumb and forefinger, holding them out almost languidly. For what seemed like the millionth time that day, Cloud's gaze hovered over her smooth, hard stomach beneath her clothes, this time appreciating the stretch all the way up her right side, reaching from underneath her breast to her arm that was resting up behind her head.

His eyes snapped up to her face, aware of how long he had been looking, and noticed the wry smile playing in the corners of her lips. She had seen him.

He reached out to take the gloves but she snatched them out of his reach at the last second, her smile growing ever more playful. His mind raced at thousand thoughts, all of them focused on one thing, and he lunged forward as she swiftly took her arm from behind her head, grabbing him, at the same moment she lifted her leg as he fell, bringing it around behind him and holding him to her body. Their eyes locked for the briefest moment, mahogany against celeste, before their lips joined together in an erratic and silent symphony. Their bodies clung to each other as they kissed, skin moving on skin like waves crashing onto waiting shores.

He paused, moving his lips slowly to the base of her neck, brushing them softly over her collar bone, making her shudder with longing. Moving slowly up her neck, noticing every gasp that came from her sweetly parted lips and darting back to kiss her as a soft moan escaped.

She worked his shirt over his muscular body and attempted to pull it over his shoulders, but met his resistance.

"Do we have to undress? We could just… y'know, like this." He cast his eyes over her body, loving how it looked when fabric clung to her skin, showing him her curves in a play of shades, shadows and textures. And besides, he didn't want to wait any longer.

She gave his shirt another forceful yank, and her smile instantly seemed even more playful and her eyes gazing even more lustfully.

"There's only one thing I want you to wear tonight" she whispered, pressing his gloves onto his chest.


End file.
